CNN Philippines (March 25) — Two more Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates have been diagnosed with coronavirus disease, the country’s health authorities reported Wednesday.
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi said there are at least 500,000 Filipinos in the UAE.
They are among the 50 new COVID-19 patients in the country, UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention said in a post on its official Facebook page. This raises the total number of Filipinos who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UAE to at least eight.
On Tuesday, another Filipino was also confirmed to have the virus.
The people who recently got infected are in “stable condition and receiving necessary medical care,” the ministry said. They also had history of exposure to individuals who were earlier confirmed to have the respiratory infection, it added.
The 50 new COVID-19 patients also include nationals from UAE, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Tunisia, South Africa, Belgium, South Korea, Bulgaria, France, Czech Republic, Australia, Lebanon, Kenya, Maldives, Sudan, Iran, Ireland, Morocco, Pakistan, and Sweden, Italy, Egypt, Spain, Netherlands, Jordan, United States, Bangladesh, and Palestine, and India.
The number of people who have been afflicted by the disease in the UAE breached the 200-mark on Wednesday. Of this figure, 45 have recovered while two have died, health officials said.
On March 21, the health ministry confirmed the country’s first fatalities from COVID-19 — a 78-year-old Arab national and a 58-year-old Asian national who resided in the country. Both of them had underlying medical conditions, it added.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said as of Tuesday, 169 Filipinos abroad have been contracted COVID-19 in 25 countries. Seventy-seven of them are undergoing treatment, 90 have recovered and two have died.
